ICAO, IATA urge governments to strengthen global aviation carbon scheme as CORSIA marks 10 years
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have called on governments and aviation stakeholders to renew their commitment to the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), as the landmark global climate initiative marks its 10th anniversary.
CORSIA was adopted by the ICAO Assembly on 6 October 2016, making it the world’s first global market-based measure designed to address carbon emissions from an entire industrial sector.
The scheme was established as part of efforts to achieve carbon-neutral growth in international aviation from 2020, while supporting the industry’s longer-term ambition of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
ICAO said the adoption of CORSIA a decade ago demonstrated what could be achieved through multilateral cooperation, particularly in addressing a global challenge such as climate change.
The organisation noted that 192 ICAO Member States unanimously endorsed both CORSIA and the industry’s net-zero carbon emissions ambition at last year’s ICAO Assembly, reinforcing the scheme’s position as the central global framework for tackling emissions from international aviation.
According to ICAO, CORSIA has been designed to provide environmental integrity and regulatory certainty while maintaining a level playing field for international airlines and taking into account the different circumstances of individual countries.
The organisation also stressed that CORSIA was not designed to operate in isolation from technological and operational improvements in aviation.
Rather, it complements advances in aircraft technology, improved flight operations and the development and use of cleaner aviation fuels, particularly Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) and Lower Carbon Aviation Fuels (LCAF).
ICAO said the scheme’s harmonised sustainability framework had helped create incentives for greater investment in and adoption of these fuels.
Over the past decade, the organisation said, there had been significant progress in implementing CORSIA, including an increase in the number of eligible carbon-credit programmes.
It added that the volume of CORSIA-certified sustainable and lower-carbon aviation fuels used by the industry had more than doubled in the past two years.
ICAO also highlighted the industry’s ability to maintain its commitments under CORSIA despite the severe disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
ICAO Council President, Toshiyuki Onuma, said the unanimous support given to CORSIA by Member States demonstrated the importance attached to having a single global solution to international aviation emissions.
“ICAO Member States have recognised CORSIA’s strength in responding to the climate emergency through their unanimous Resolution at the ICAO Assembly,” Onuma said.
“This consensus reflects CORSIA’s central and leading role in providing the international solution to the global carbon emissions of an entire sector and confirms Member States’ collective will to maintain a globally harmonised approach, avoiding fragmented or duplicative measures.”
He urged governments and other aviation stakeholders to use the 10th anniversary to reinforce their commitment to the scheme.
“On this tenth anniversary, we urge all ICAO Member States and stakeholders to renew and strengthen their commitment to CORSIA, to lead the way in innovation, implementation, and ambition,” he said.
ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar said the future effectiveness of CORSIA would depend on sustained international cooperation, technological progress, effective implementation and regular review of eligible carbon-credit programmes and fuels.
“The continued success of CORSIA will rely on sustained cooperation, technical progress, robust implementation, and the ongoing review and inclusion of eligible carbon credit programmes and fuels,” Salazar said.
“ICAO is calling on all Member States and stakeholders to continue to stand together in enhancing CORSIA as the sole global measure addressing emissions from international aviation.”
He said the coming years would be critical for translating the scheme’s commitments into measurable emissions reductions.
“The coming years will be decisive: by working together, accelerating the scale-up of sustainable aviation fuels, and ensuring robust participation and compliance, we can deliver real and lasting emissions reductions across the global aviation sector,” Salazar said.
Separately, IATA used the 10th anniversary to call on governments to reinforce the foundations of CORSIA and protect its role as the global framework for aviation’s decarbonisation.
The association said more than 130 countries currently participate in CORSIA and estimated that the scheme would have mitigated about 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by the end of 2026.
From 2027, IATA estimates that CORSIA will cover approximately 85 per cent of global international aviation emissions.
The association also projected that, over the lifetime of the scheme, as much as $120 billion could be mobilised in climate finance to support emissions-reduction and carbon-removal projects around the world.
IATA Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Chief Economist, Marie Owens Thomsen, described CORSIA as an important demonstration of what international cooperation could achieve in tackling climate change.
“As the first global, sector-wide climate agreement for aviation, CORSIA showcases the best of international collaboration: a global solution to a global challenge,” she said.
Thomsen said the scheme helped preserve a level playing field for airlines while directing climate finance towards emissions-reduction initiatives across different parts of the world.
“CORSIA is already a landmark achievement. With broad participation, consistent implementation, and continued support from governments, it can become one of the most successful examples of climate action and climate finance in practice,” she added.
The anniversary comes as the European Union reviews its Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), creating another potential point of tension over how international aviation emissions should be regulated.
IATA said proposals under consideration in Europe could extend the EU ETS to destinations within 5,000 kilometres of the EU, using Frankfurt as the geographic centre.
The proposals also include a mechanism that could allow comparable carbon-pricing systems to be developed with third countries.
IATA warned that such measures could undermine the globally harmonised approach represented by CORSIA if they result in overlapping regional or bilateral carbon-pricing regimes.
IATA Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Thomas Reynaert, said the EU should use its review to reinforce rather than weaken the global aviation carbon framework.
“The EU ETS review should reinforce CORSIA as the global framework for international aviation, not encourage overlapping regional or bilateral systems,” Reynaert said.
He argued that Europe could achieve greater climate and economic benefits by directing aviation-related revenues towards SAF, infrastructure and emerging technologies rather than imposing additional carbon costs without addressing the industry’s underlying energy challenges.
IATA said it was also concerned about the absence of an impact assessment examining the possible consequences of expanding the EU ETS for third countries, international connectivity, airline competitiveness and CORSIA.
The association estimated that the proposed expansion could increase EU ETS compliance costs by 40 per cent to €280 billion between 2027 and 2040.
To accelerate aviation decarbonisation while protecting Europe’s competitiveness and energy security, IATA called for full and unified implementation of CORSIA for international aviation without extending the EU ETS extraterritorially.
It also urged the EU to abandon the proposed “EU ETS as a Service” mechanism, which it said could encourage parallel regional or bilateral carbon-pricing systems alongside CORSIA.
On SAF, IATA called for stronger support through the SAF allowances mechanism, including increased support before 2029, and the removal of geographic production restrictions and other conditions that limit assistance for eligible sustainable fuel pathways.
The association further urged European policymakers to ring-fence aviation-generated ETS revenues for SAF production, infrastructure and emerging aviation technologies.
IATA said its revised recommendations had been submitted to European policymakers as part of the ongoing legislative review.
The competing pressures over CORSIA and regional carbon-pricing regimes underline the central issue facing aviation’s decarbonisation drive: how to achieve substantial emissions reductions while maintaining a consistent global regulatory framework for an industry whose operations routinely cross national and regional borders.
For ICAO and IATA, the 10th anniversary of CORSIA therefore represents not only a milestone, but also a call for governments to ensure that the global mechanism is fully implemented, adequately supported and strengthened as the aviation industry moves towards its 2050 net-zero ambition.
